Apple closed their online store this morning sometime around 8am and when it was back up less than an hour later the 17" PowerBook G4 had vanished, with a shiny new 17" MacBook Pro in its place. This new MBP is a comparative deal considering the 15incher. It features an astounding 1680x1050 resolution (the same as found on my 20" Cinema Display), a 2.16GHz Core Duo processor, a 120GB 5400RPM hard drive (a faster 7200RPM 100GB model is an option), 1GB of DDR2-667 RAM, an 8X DL DVD burner and a FireWire 800 port all as standard, for 2799. This is actually the exact same price point as a 15" MacBook Pro with the 2.16GHz CPU upgrade.
The 15" MBP lacks a FireWire 800 port and only has a 4x DL DVD burner, so the 17" model is now the benchmark. It is a tenth of a pound lighter at 6.8 pounds and is 1inch thin all the way around. It has also inherited such features as the integrated iSight, Front Row and MagSafe from its 15" brother. The 12" PowerBook is now the only PPC-based PowerBook still being sold on the Apple online store.